Missing Futures: Ilarzia's Curse
by Tenka-Parker
Summary: <html><head></head>This is a Mad Father, Witch's House, Ib, HetaOni, the Crooked Man, Paranoiac, Mermaid Swamp, Corpse Party, Misao and Five Nights at Freddy's. From Ilarzia's POV- Enjoy !</html>
1. A Gray Sky

**A Gray Sky, a Strange Gallery & a Beautiful Rose**

All the more intriguing was the art gallery which contained the works of Guertena, Ilarzia envied his works. She aspired to be like him but she heard how tough his life was and didn't think that working without models or actual people was going to help her works. Then again that's why people found him amazing and mysterious. He had this one painting of a beautiful young woman; her hair was of the color of autumn leaves, her complexion appeared to be clear and the smile seemed to hide an emotion of deviousness. The red gown matched a garnet necklace she wore.

"I heard rumors of this painting that this was actually a woman who tried to seduce him, he fell in love with her but she ran away. He still claims this wasn't an actual person though." A man next to her explained.

Ilarzia sighed and looked down at the notes she had been making, it all seemed hopeless to even try and achieve this childish dream she had. She stared at the floor as the lights began to flicker she looked up, the people around her had vanished; Ilarzia felt a chill run down her spine. Ilarzia had a bad feeling about this. Her family had always been superstitious, you couldn't tell at a first glance. There was a symbol, a simple one of a single dot and a curve beneath it; this resembled the symbol for the gondolier of Hell, Charon. She believed that he was the one who would guide the ones of from the four corners of creation to travel amongst each other, until only one remained. Her family believed that Ilarzia would be the one to travel with them; she was the tenth generation from the last traveler of her family. There was assumption of this because she had natural deep purple hair that shined gloriously amongst the stars and sun. Ilarzia thought that was wrong, she didn't want to be part of it, each time it had gone along with a great struggle to each traveler, one either sacrificed their morals or their lives.

"Hello…? Hell…o?" Ilarzia began searching around the gallery but no one was to be found, the sound of footsteps resounded around her. Ilarzia started to rush toward the footsteps but when she found the source she couldn't believe it. There was a black statue wearing a red dress walking around. Ilarzia turned back around so it wouldn't see her, even though it didn't have a head to look at her. Ilarzia turned back around and tried to leave but the door was practically glued shut, Ilarzia took the stool from behind the desk and slammed it up against one of the windows… which didn't even crack a bit. She kept slamming but something started banging back onto the window. Ilarzia dropped the stool and ran up the stairs to back where she was before but this time around, there were different paintings. When she ran to where there was the "Lady in Red", was now a painting called "Bitter Fruit". Ilarzia backed away, she was a little panicked now by all this but the fruit falling off from the painting didn't help her mental state. She silently moved her lips in the formation of: "What the fuck…" she then slammed the palm of her hand onto her forehead in grief. Ilarzia ran down the stairs again and into another part of the gallery where the main exhibit was, a giant fish in the background which appeared to be underwater in the painting, the painting was called "Abyss of the Deep". Nothing moved but the ropes were broken down, Ilarzia ran away from that instantly, she thought: "Something came out of that or it wants me to come in". Ilarzia found a group pillars against the wall, another change to the gallery, she ran past the first one on her right and leaned back, panting in a state of panic. She fell back into the pillar finding a strange new room there was only the pillar's interior but held an entire room with another two doors. Unlike the gallery, which was white and quiet, the room was bright and colorful. It had a beautiful golden color with a mint colored floor, Ilarzia hesitantly stepped into the noisy room, the sounds of elegant music shuffled together to make only a ruckus. Ilarzia pushed the violet colored bangs back to get a better look around with her orange eyes; they were aimlessly searching for an answer to get out. Ilarzia stepped inside, the door shutting sharply behind her. The floor seemed almost transparent. Ilarzia stepped on the floor harshly with her black heeled boots. The floor cracked like an egg; Ilarzia stepped away and around the source of the crack she opened one of the doors, the right door, to find a spreading of thorns, a budding lavender rose at the front; Ilarzia picked up the tiny rose bud and plucked it away. The thorns began spreading quickly around the room covering the door with thick, sharp thorns, leaving her to never escape that way. Ilarzia opened the next door, the left one, to find a long passage way of stairs, going far down. Ilarzia began running down the stairs effortlessly but after going down about 20 steps, the staircase went up now, then to down and a bit to the right. It was all about and when she finally got down the stairs she found herself back into the same room she had been fleeing from. Ilarzia had one last idea, she firmly gripped a part of the vine which was scarce with thorns and slammed with the heel of her boots, which made the floor crack again; she kicked again and again and again and the floor broke under her weight! Ilarzia fell down with the shattered glass into a pit of some purple fluid; it was thick and made the air around her feel heavy. Ilarzia went down and attempted to swim to the bottom. When she lightly touched the floor a green door clarified itself in front of her; Ilarzia struggled to open the door and when she finally pried it open she fell through the door, the fluid following down with her. Ilarzia started messing with her hair and clothes frantically but there was nothing soaked on her. She looked to the pale budding rose which was now fully bloomed. The fluid now turned to violet petals beneath her feet. Ilarzia now found herself curious instead of frantic; this was a strange world indeed.

" E"

The words were sprayed onto the wall, the walls were a deep blue but the air was easier to breathe; the aura the place gave though would make a person sick. Ilarzia held the rose close to her stomach, the entire room making them ill. Ilarzia looked around to find the same rose statue from an earlier exhibit in front of her again: "When the rose wilts, so you too will rot away." The message made her stomach turn and her skin crawl, she sighed in effort to stop shaking but her breath was shaky. She started walking again and tried the first green door; it opened with a loud thudding sound. She found a bunch of keys all together but each key had a riddle. A red key hung above a message that read:

"I belong to the world of lies, the embodiment of lights' beauty. I am part of your bitter skies, to which I will fall and fulfill my duty. Who am I?" Ilarzia looked to the next key which was a deep violet that almost looked black, she looked at the purplish-black key and then to the message:

"I am seen through the rainbow, through the sunset and through the sunflowers. Who am I?" the message was even more peculiar than the last. The first riddle made sense and gave some details, though they didn't make much sense, so it could be done but there was nothing in common with the three details from the second riddle, except Light. No one was named "Light", there was a God named "Awai" which meant "Light" however in other countries people called him "Lucifer", "the Devil", or "Satan". She went to the next key, a bright golden, shimmering against the dark green walls. It didn't have much of riddle more of a message:

"I am a man with many minds, I am a maker of many worlds, and I am the creator of a sick universe. Who am I?" it asked, she immediately thought of the artist, Guertena. His work was magnificent and beautiful but in a mysteriously dark way. She didn't know how these riddles would come into play; maybe there were doors with names on them? There was also many other keys upon the wall but she now wanted to find the locks to where they would belong. Ilarzia stepped out of the keys room and wandered among the halls once more to find another room, the label read: "The Loved Ones"; Ilarzia walked inside and saw portraits of many people most of them were girls, others were boys and at the end of the row there was a repulsive creature, it face was swollen and it's tongue puffed out of it's mouth giving a ugly look to the creature. The creature had small pupils in its huge eyes, the green-blue skin made it look like a corpse- Why would Guertena paint such a hideous thing? The label was blank, as if he didn't finish it. Ilarzia went to the next painting to find a girl smiling her eyes a beautiful scarlet, something Ilarzia hadn't seen before. She had snow white hair and flushed cheeks. The back ground behind her contained a mixture of fire and ice giving a feeling of passion and regret, her thumb touched the label as she leaned closer, staring her down almost hoping the painting would move. Ilarzia planted her feet firmly on the ground once more to see the name: "Tenka". Ilarzia felt the label, flicking her thumbnail back and forth to see that the label moved away and had hid a lock beneath the label. Ilarzia took the label and ran back to the key room and read the first riddle again.

"I belong to the world of lies, the embodiment of lights' beauty. I belong to your bitter skies, to which I will fall and fulfill my duty." The name "Tenka" meant "Snow", or "Lightning". Ilarzia knew it had to have been this key to open that portrait, "the embodiment of lights' beauty," the must of referred to lightning. "I belong to your bitter skies, to which I will fall and fulfill my duty." The must've meant "Snow", Ilarzia snatched the key form the wall and ran back to the portrait of the girl, Tenka. Ilarzia held the key but her eyes wandered from the painting to the one of another girl, a child. She wore a white blouse with a deep blue tie and a blue plaid skirt. She looked a bit mature for her age which appeared to be nine; she looked at the label of the girl: "Yasashii". The child held a rose, the vine intertwined itself around her arms and torso, it looked painful but there was no blood, there was a man behind her, fallen onto the floor as a girl stood in front of him and another man was behind her holding onto the noose around his neck. They were grayscale so it was hard to tell anything about them in the dim light. These paintings all looked like they were from separate worlds, and the one key said that whoever it belonged to was responsible for all this. Ilarzia inserted the key into the lock of the "Tenka" painting. The painting dropped from the wall and there was a small window showing the girl, she was with Ilarzia and they were talking, there were two men in the back ground, one of which had yellow eyes and gray hued bands against the black hair. If those three were going to meet then it had to of meant that the boys and that girl, Tenka, were three of the four travelers. Ilarzia looked at the other boy; his eyes didn't look right… The pupils were faded blue, he must've been blind because his irises were the same color as his pupils, but the irises looked lavender instead, it was hard to tell without staring. Ilarzia found them all different but each one unique. The image played like a flawless movie. Ilarzia now took notice of the background. The walls were dingy and an entire mess, it was dark, but there was something in the background, a bright electric blue, it was in the shape of a person. It was a child, a little girl, probably around the age of ten. She had brown hair styled into two pigtails, and wore a simple outfit of a long sleeved sweater with a flower sewn upon it and an orange skirt. She would've looked cute if it was not for the bloody gap where her left eye should've been. She had a pair of scissors in her hands. There were two other children behind her, one of which was a younger girl who was missing half of her head and another of a young boy who was trying to speak but only mumbled. Ilarzia looked through the window closer, the three were obviously spirits but those three were missing their tongues! They must've been murdered; it was easy to assume that much. No one could've died that way by accident or natural causes. Ilarzia took the key back and tried to break the window with the key as if to hope that she could get through by breaking it, but this hadn't happened yet. She didn't know these people yet, so it must've been in her future. Ilarzia looked through the now cracked glass to see that the oldest girl, the one wearing the yellow sweater was talking to the girl she assumed to be Tenka. Tenka gave a sorrowful look as they spoke to each other, for some reason the oldest spirit had her tongue. There was another group of people behind Tenka and the other three travelers. They looked devastated; there were only two of them, one boy and one girl. The girl had bright pink hair fashioned into a ponytail and wore an orange outfit that contained a short skirt and a tank top and a yellow over-shirt and she wore dark orange ballet flats, most of her outfit had some drops of blood on it. The image went away from that place before Ilarzia could see the boy well enough; it went to Tenka lying in bed. An older woman sitting by her, stroking her face as she looked at the picture frame next the bed… It held the picture of a man who looked very similar to the artist of Guertena. The woman had a knife in her hand, it was covered in blood. Ilarzia's eyes widened- Had that woman just killed her?! No… The sleeping Tenka was really asleep Ilarzia persuaded herself; the woman must've killed someone else. Tenka soon woke to see the woman; the woman pulled back her brown hair as she stared at Tenka with dull green eyes. It was a stare of uncertainty, Tenka looked away from her and to somewhere the window did not hold. Tenka's look went from a one of relaxation to tension and hatred. She began yelling; Ilarzia could hear nothing though since it was just a window. Tenka looked a little different, Ilarzia could quite tell but there was something different. Ilarzia ran out of the room, what did she need to see any of that for?

"So you've finally arrived." A man with a nice suit was behind her, he looked like a teacher. He had a red tie and slicked back blond hair, the suit was beige which made an emphasis on the red tie. He had leather shoes which were slightly worn; the gray tone matched his eyes despite them being blue. He had slight smirk despite the sickening aura of the place. Ilarzia pulled out her pocket-knife and looked at the man.

"I've been here a little while, what do you want…?" Ilarzia said cautiously, she hadn't showed the blade yet. Ilarzia paused as she observed the man further. There was blood on his hands, his eyes showed he's been through a lot but acted as a friendly. Ilarzia couldn't trust him nor rely on him but he wasn't a hostile.

"I want, nor need anything; I'm here to guide you." The man said, pulling out a hankie and wiped his bloody hands; when he pulled the hankie away there was now a rose in his hand. A pink one, faded almost to a white but still a shade of pink. Ilarzia could tell it was fake.

"I don't need any help, get out of here. You're in my way." Ilarzia pushed past him, he was hiding a newfound door. The window must've made the door appear.

"If you didn't you would've been three rooms ahead and found a monster by now." The man told her, not even bothering to face her. Ilarzia opened the door and ignored him. She now found a room full of roses. They were all so beautiful; there were some empty vases- five empty vases to be exact. There wasn't a red, pink, yellow, blue or violet rose. Ilarzia looked at the violet rose she was carrying; the man was now right behind her.

"Make sure no one gets that: When the rose wilts…" he started to say the quote but Ilarzia finished it.

"You too will rot away." Ilarzia sighed and punched the man in the stomach, "Don't ever creep up on me like that." The man growled slightly at her, but shook it off. "I'm sorry but this is a fatal thing and if you do that I'm not going to respond well."

"Apology accepted as long as you don't do it again." He said with the same cocky smirk.

"No promises." Ilarzia said while studying the roses closer. "Why is this room here?" she asked while observing each vase, they were all l the same except two vases which were both empty.

"So the two of you can meet." He said as he studied the room as well, the wallpaper had stripes, none of them repeated, each one matched with a vase. The background for the rose matched. If there was an orange rose, the wallpaper matched it. The ground was black though, obsidian stone.

"I'm going to meet one of the travelers?" Ilarzia thought, and rushed for the door which somehow vanished when she touched the knob, "Get me out of here!" she said as another door appeared on the opposite side of the room. The man had immediately disappeared as the door opened; there was hesitance in footing; Ilarzia heard the door shut behind whoever had come in.

"U-Um… Hi." It was female voice, it sounded sweet and kind. Ilarzia slowly turned around to see who it was; Ilarzia dropped her rose and stared at the girl. The girl was wearing a long pale green gown with short sleeves and was barefoot. She held the pale pink rose in her hands, she had shining red eyes and snow white hair, Ilarzia couldn't believe it. This was the girl from the painting; she had a pair of sewing scissors to defend herself.

"Are you… Tenka…?" Ilarzia asked; he eyes still widened at the sight. Tenka leaned back a little at the mention of her own name.

"I... am." Tenka replied, "Do you not remember?" Tenka asked.

"Remember what?" Ilarzia gave a look of confusion at her. Tenka sighed and mumbled something. "What?"

"I'll explain later, let's go." Tenka said, putting the scissors by the sash of the dress to keep hold of them, Tenka turned to Ilarzia and grabbed her hand softly and started heading toward the door. Tenka opened the door swiftly and shut it behind her. "Listen to me, you're going to have to trust me right now, there's a traitor within this building and they only need to kill one of us to get what they want."

"What do they want?" Ilarzia looked at the girl even more confused.

"No idea." Tenka answered as she looked around the corner. "Some paintings are going to jump out at you, same with statues and some other stuff. Don't give them your rose no matter what." Tenka added. "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you." Ilarzia said without hesitance. Tenka took grip of Ilarzia's hand again and ran past a dozen paintings of "The Lady in Red" but not all of them were wearing red, some were wearing blue or yellow or green. They also passed "The Hanged Man". There was also these statues Ilarzia saw earlier called "Death of the Individual". Tenka ran into another room and pulled her in and slammed the door behind her, this room was large but only contained one thing: A mirror. Ilarzia and Tenka panted as the rested against the door, they moved away from the door when there were no thumping sounds that signaled attempt in forced entry. Ilarzia walked up to the mirror, thinking it might have been like the window. Maybe it would've lead to the blind traveler or the other traveler with golden eyes. Tenka watched Ilarzia observe the mirror thoroughly.

"Um… I think it's just a mirror…" Tenka said skeptically. Ilarzia touched the sides of the mirror thinking something might happen but Tenka went back to the door to find that there was a mannequin head blocking the way. Tenka being a bit frightened ran back over to the mirror, Ilarzia looked back to the frightened Tenka to find the mannequin head was now right in front of them. Ilarzia panicked in a violent manner which involved her foot making impact with the mannequin's face which went flying into the wall, shattering into thousands of pieces. Tenka gasped and looked through the shrapnel to find a key within it.

"You're welcome." Ilarzia smiled which was something rare for her to do.

"Thanks…" Tenka studied the key closer but she found nothing that would tell her where it would lead. "Do you know where this might lead to?" Tenka handed Ilarzia the key.

"There was a door out there when we first ran out, have you been there yet?" Ilarzia inquired; Tenka shook her head in response which lead Ilarzia to grasp Tenka's hand and now made her follow in the same rapid fashion. When they reached the door they found a room with the same man one many different frames with tears that took the appearance of blood slowly going down its cheeks. But Ilarzia and Tenka weren't alone there was a little girl lying on the ground and a man leaning over her whispering her name with concern.

"What happened?!" Tenka ran over to the girl, she appeared to be around the age of nine and was wearing a schoolgirl's uniform of white and blue. She had black hair and her eyes were shut; Tenka placed her hands against the child's chest and felt her heartbeat. It was racing rapidly, the child was scared but she wasn't sick.

"I don't know we were about to be attacked and when we got away she fell unconscious." Ilarzia recognized them, the child from the painting and the hanged man in the background. The man had long green hair and wore a V-neck violet shirt and ripped black jeans, he carried a beautiful blue rose and the child in the blue uniform carried a red rose.

"Can we get her to a safe room, we might be compromised here. Her rose, did anything happen to it?" Tenka picked up the girl and started walking, "She appears to just be unconscious I don't think anything is wrong. You'd think she'd be panicked in this type of situation anyway." The man took the girl away from Tenka kindly; he was suspicious which would be right in the current situation.

"Are you two from the gallery?" the man asked.

"I am," Ilarzia said and started walking with the man with Tenka following short behind. "I suppose you don't know how things got this way?" Ilarzia knew that this was supposed to happen but explanation would lead to thoughts of insanity.

"I don't… Neither does Yasashii." The man said, "Oh, how rude of me! I haven't introduced myself have I?" he said, Tenka leaned in over Ilarzia's shoulder listening intently then moved away. "My name is Kouken. And this is Yasashii." He gestured to himself and the girl with his head, there was this weird thing going on with his hair, the highlights among his forest green hair were pitch black instead of another shade of green and it acted as a separate piece of hair entirely. Tenka poked it then pulled on it. "Um… Ow…!" he said after a moment, first a reaction of confusion.

"Sorry… Sorry." She faded back then opened a door, "Let's relax here for a little while." She suggested, the room was small and had a few bookcases in the center of the room. The man laid the girl down and Ilarzia took off her coat and covered her as Tenka sat next to her waiting for her to wake up. Kouken sighed and looked at the bookcases there was table with a vase upon it with a little bit of water in it. Ilarzia looked at the wall and saw a small door, too small for her to crawl through since she was about 5'5". She looked to the man, no he was even taller, then to Tenka; she was small enough.

"Hey… Tenka, can you come here?" Ilarzia opened the door to find a tunnel it was short, maybe there was just a door outside the room. Tenka walked over and kneeled by the tunnel. "You might not have to go through there, give me a second." Ilarzia walked out of the room and found nothing around the corner where the next room should've been. Ilarzia went back into the room where Yasashii was resting to find that Tenka had pushed herself through the tunnel, and was now in another room. After a few minutes Yasashii woke up, but Tenka had not yet returned. Kouken began talking with Yasashii as soon as she had awoken. Ilarzia sat by the door waiting for Tenka to return but it was awhile and Kouken and Yasashii were ready to leave. Ilarzia asked them to stay just a little while longer, "She'll be back any minute now…" Ilarzia said now getting a little concerned. She thought about asking the little girl, Yasashii, to go through but that would've been stupid. If Tenka didn't come back it wasn't likely that she would come back or even be willing to go venture.

"…" Kouken sighed a spoke softly as if to make sure Yasashii couldn't hear, "I don't think she's coming back…" he said with a face of solitude. Ilarzia's teeth clenched.

"No, she is coming back, just wait." Ilarzia said, but as time passed it seemed less likely and just as she gave up hope and was on the brink of tears; A sound echoed from the tunnel.

"Don't worry its fine. Better than being in that room all by your self… I'd kill myself being in there for too long." Tenka's voice echoed throughout the tunnel. Tenka came out of the tunnel and dusted herself, still in the same pretty dress, but now the pair of sewing scissors was covered in dried blood. Ilarzia slapped Tenka and then embraced her.

"You scared me! Damn you!" Ilarzia whimpered slightly as she held the female.

"O-Oh… I'm sorry for worrying you…" Tenka stroked Ilarzia's back gently in efforts to calm her like her mother would. Before Ilarzia could question her further another girl came out of the tunnel. She looked about twelve, she had a hot pink tank top with a brown outline of the sun and a pink skirt with three layers, on was a hot pink to match the shirt and the other two were a different bright shade of pink. She was silent and gave a monotone air to her, but her eyes were strange; these eyes had seen conflict. "Oh, um… This is Shizukesa." Ilarzia recognized the name; "Shizukesa" meant "serenity", the quality of being serene or calm. Maybe her name would apply to her personality, which would be good… To have someone who would remain calm not matter what.

"Hello." Ilarzia said while looking down at the child; Ilarzia smiled but the girl gave a blank look and inspected the room. Her eyes were a dull, dark brown and her skin was paler than normal, she must've been inside a _very_ long time. The girl looked at her but didn't speak, maybe she was a mute? Tenka was talking to her like she could respond, so why wouldn't she reply…? That didn't matter too much. She held a kitchen knife, Ilarzia now took notice that neither Kouken didn't have a weapon, it was expected that Yasashii wouldn't. Yasashii walked up to her and started asking questions, Shizukesa didn't answer unless they only required one word answers.

"How old are you?" Yasashii asked Shizukesa, she didn't answer, "Um, do you know why you're here?" Yasashii tried again.

"No." Shizukesa replied without hesitance.

"Where were you before?"

"Home."

"Did anything change there?" Kouken interrupted suddenly; Tenka's jaw dropped as if to say something but she quickly shut it.

"Yes." Shizukesa answered while studying the room closer, looking at all the books. Each one looked more peculiar than the last.

"What changed?" Ilarzia sat down by Shizukesa, the girl looked at her with dull blank eyes.

"Doors." She got up and walked out of the room; Ilarzia looked to Tenka with a bit of frustration. Why had she brought this girl back? Kouken and Yasashii wanted to leave before they even got back so they weren't too hesitant about following her out. Tenka took Ilarzia's hand kindly and just started walking out the door with her. Ilarzia blushed a little, to be taken care of by a girl younger than her… It was embarrassing. Shizukesa began to go down the hall with the crying faces but Kouken directed her to the other direction.

"That's where we came from; let's go in the other direction." Kouken gave a friendly smile but Shizukesa just remained silent and gave an annoyed expression. Kouken was a little startled by this; he'd never encountered a girl who was so straight-faced. Shizukesa followed them willingly though.

"H-Hey… What did you means by 'doors'? How did they change?" Ilarzia asked while pacing behind Tenka.

"Door appeared but there were no walls behind them. They were in a circle." Shizukesa replied. That was the most she had said all day, but why was she speaking up now?

"Do you know why they were in circle?" Tenka inquired.

"They just came out of nowhere?" Ilarzia said slightly stunned; she wasn't too surprised considering how she had fallen through a door that wasn't there when she had seen it and that the display had changed as she ventured throughout the gallery, but no walls?

"What do you mean there were no walls?" Kouken's eyes went wide as he imagined the scene, how was there just a door floating in midair…?!

"No. Yes. There weren't any walls." She repeated herself again. Yasashii cleared her throat as if to gain attention.

"Let's give her a break, we should find a way out, remember?" Yasashii spoke in a mature tone.

"Tough talk for a fainting nine year old…" Ilarzia muttered with a slight growling tone. Tenka grabbed her ear as if to calm down or get her back in the real world.

"Where do you reckon we go?" Tenka asked as she looked at the scene, it made their stomachs sick, but Shizukesa took no notice of it. Ilarzia insisted that Shizukesa came from a background of darkness where she has seen a lot of sick or twisted things in her life. Shizukesa must've been through a lot for a girl her age.

"Out." Shizukesa said and wandered through the hall and immediately went through the door, she was an adventurer. That much was now clear.

"Where is out?" Kouken thought she might've actually known the way out.

"The Death of the Most Beloved, Haishin." She answered with no hesitance again.


	2. I'm Not Alone

**I'm Not Alone**

Ilarzia saw as a new man appeared in front of them before anyone could question who Haishin was. Tenka stared at him as if he were a ghost… _She knew him._

"G-Gosai…" Tenka mumbled as she began to break down and fell to her knees, bursting out crying for a reason she did not know. Ilarzia shouted out to Tenka, and so did the other man, it was entirely inaudible to Ilarzia. Everything was breaking down for her… Ilarzia couldn't believe this… She was having _feelings_ for a stupid little brat like her, but had to be her, didn't it? Within a few moments Tenka had the man against the wall and was choking him- - There had to be a reason behind that. Her expression changed though no one else could see it… The sudden look showed she had just realized something.

IT WAS OF SHEER TERROR

Tenka ran away frantically, she was in retreat. Ilarzia chased after her, Tenka had to know something and even she didn't there was a reason she was running away like that. Ilarzia chased her down the hall and down the stairs but Tenka vanished from sight and when Ilarzia got down the stairs she tripped and fell into something but she didn't stop falling. Where was she going?

"H-Heeeeelp!" she shouted, she thought she was going to hit the pavement any second and her life would be over… But instead she landed in a similar liquid from earlier the liquid was a neon pink color and when she hit the bottom there wasn't a door there was a window that she had recognized. It had boy she hadn't seen before. He had green eyes and black hair; he was protectively holding Tenka and shouting… He was bleeding. The window soon faded and the picture of Tenka faded into one of a mansion burning, she had a joyous smile but Ilarzia couldn't help but feel sad when she saw it. Ilarzia broke the window and fell through it. The neon pink fluid fell into large blobs and formed themselves to look like people, one of them formed into a female and took a deep breath in through her nose and exhaled through her mouth… These blob people stabilized and looked like real people now but they were all the same female, at least it looked that way. They all looked like Tenka except they were wearing different colored ribbons on their wrist.

"Netsu." She was 22 years old and had a yellow ribbon on her wrist and her hair was fashioned into a ponytail to her left side of her head.

"Arashii." She looked a year younger than the other one and she had a similar hair-do but it was to her left not her right and she had a black ribbon.

"Hyȏ." This girl looked like she 20 years old and had short twin braids that rested on her shoulders, she had a white ribbon.

"Natsu." This girl looked exactly the same age as Hyȏ, so age 20, she has a long single braid and her preferred color is mint green.

"Hana." This girl looked 19 years of age and she had her hair in a bun styled with some type of red chopstick looking hair tool, the ribbon on her wrist is red.

"Ame." This girl also looked like the one next to her because she was 19 as well, she had her hair styled with a few bobby pins but one of them had a four-pointed star that showed off the tuft of her hair that blew wildly off her skull. She had an orange ribbon.

"Haru." Was a year younger, so she was 18, and she had a green ribbon and a green clip that kept her hair in a bun like the other girl.

"Harikȇn." she looked the strangest for some reason, she was 17, her hair was pulled back with a headband and had a purple ribbon on her wrist.

"Nikkȏ." This was another girl who was 16; she had twin tails with little bows holding together each one. She had a blue ribbon.

"Tenka." Was the one Ilarzia knew, she was 15 and she had a light blue ribbon on her wrist but her ribbon was on the floor next to her. Those ribbons symbolized something, maybe it was just their favorite color but it had to be something more than that. Why was she surrounded by these girls? They all had different hairstyles, and eye colors and ribbons but why did she need to see this…? There were more blob people forming. That man with green eyes and Gosai were standing together but the blob version of her was standing alone. Were these dolls that someone had created? Why did these things form as them? There was a black cat on the ground by Gosai, and in another version, the man with green eyes was staring down at the black cat with a sad expression, it looked like heartbreak or loss… What was that cat meant to be?

"Ilarzia…" someone mumbled her name. Ilarzia turned around in the bright room, there was another version of Tenka embracing Ilarzia, both of them had knives in their hands. The 3D image of them froze at that point.

"Where am I?" Ilarzia asked herself as she looked around at the different models of all these different people. The sound of footsteps echoed within the place, only the figures of the people could be seen, was there any walls to this room? Were they outside? Where were they? What were these people made out of? Ilarzia could be asking all of these questions but she just wanted to know if there was a way out more than anything. A man who seemed to be a real person stood in front of her, this man was her guide from the beginning, why was he here now?

"'Where'? I think you mean 'what'. If another asked me that question I just might ask them 'who', so shall you ask yourself the same question or another?" this man was rather strange but strange things had been happening all day.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ilarzia replied to the man's question-answer.

"_We stop looking for the monsters under the bed when we realize they're inside of us."_

She was suddenly falling again, she was already over falling into water but instead she fell into something sticky, a dull red color then onto a concrete floor, no sign of the dull red color. Ilarzia flinched, that should've hurt more than it did.

"Y-You again…!" a familiar voice sounded. It was Tenka and there was another girl, behind her… Protecting her. "Nenriki, go to the room where we found that Creepy Doll we destroyed." Tenka said, Nenriki ran off. That must've been her name, Nenriki…

"What's going on?" Ilarzia asked, then finally noticing Tenka had a blade with Japanese writing on it: "私は悪を恐れない", or "I Will Fear No Evil" it read. It was a demon blade, simple as that. Ilarzia expression changed.

"How long have you had that? Do you even know what that is?" Ilarzia asked and stepped closer to her, she wouldn't have anywhere to run in this corridor.

"Stay away from me or I'll use it you sick piece of shit." Tenka threatened, preparing to use the blade on her. Tenka had a great position, strong and steady, keeping defense.

"What're you talking about?" Ilarzia smiled and kept walking forward drew forth her own blade. It looked elegant and had a silver-titanium cross for the blade. "_You kill me?_ Ha… Ha ha… Ha, ha ha ha ha!" she started laughing hysterically, stopping in her own tracks.

"_Who do you think you're talking to you little shit?"_

Ilarzia's voice changed, deepened and demonic, she flicked her hair back and prepared the blade in her hand. "I'll send you to Hell you goody-goody."

"You're wrong." Tenka got ready to attack; something was under her black cloak… Something glowing. Ilarzia knew that it must've been important then. Ilarzia made her move and at the same instant so did Tenka, in that moment something caught Tenka's eye. Ilarzia rushed forward and stabbed Tenka.

"Kill a complete stranger, how'd you figure it out so quickly? Why'd you run?" Ilarzia asked with a twisted, wicked looking smile. "You must've known since you are too."

"That hell you talking about?" Tenka stole the blade thrusted into her abdomen; if it were removed she'd begin bleeding horribly. "You think I didn't know about demons after all this time?"

"It doesn't really matter." Ilarzia kicked Tenka's side, pushing the knife embedded in her muscle, causing more bleeding. "Nothing matters." She kicked Tenka's side again. There was no whimper, or scream, why was that? "Still worried about Nenriki in the other room?" Ilarzia squatted by Tenka, pushing on the blade. Tenka bit her lip painfully, refusing to make any sound of pain. "Is that why you're being so quiet? Most girls scream when I stab them…" Ilarzia muttered and then stood up once more looking over to the room down the corridor. "I'll make her scream, loud enough for even you to hear." Ilarzia got up and left the hall and into the other room, Nenriki wasn't in that room, there was a large pair of doors ahead. A chainsaw lay in front of a portal, there were papers all over and glass tubes were people must've been placed. Ilarzia froze in her steps, there was an aura of another demon in the room, but it wasn't there anymore. It couldn't have been, but there was one there before her. Ilarzia found no business in this room; she couldn't go through those portals. It'd spit her out like watermelon seeds. Ilarzia left the room, there was a trail of blood and Tenka lay outside the room, still a mess from being stabbed. She still seemed calm. She went down a long hallway where rats were swarming her. She had to run through, finding a message at the end: "You said I'd be family." It looked like it was scratched into the wall yet painted with blood. It was hard to tell if that's what it read, it was rather slurred now. Ilarzia moved on, up the stairs and through, forward and forward, it didn't matter where she went. This place was massive and great stairs through the place, there were signs of monsters in certain places, but they weren't there anymore. She pushed the front door open and left the place, there was a boy standing in front of her now. He had dirty brown hair and had a large bandage over his eye, he was another one of the monsters, but he was different.

"I remember you. And your brother, where is he by the way?" Ilarzia asked the boy.

"If you remember than you should know better than to ask that." He replied.

"You're… Tanchou, right? Tenka's mortal uncle." Ilarzia pondered for a moment, "What business do you have here?" Ilarzia added quickly.

"He said you needed to travel a little more, you don't have much time left. So I need to keep you here for a minute." Tanchou shoved the woman back inside, slamming the doors tightly. "I heard you killed her by the way. She still has business too you know." Tanchou reminded her.

"Looks like she'll be missing out by then." Ilarzia said, pulling out another blade, "Move or I'll cut off your legs." She threatened. Tanchou pulled something out of his brown boots, a small dagger that he never got to before he died.

"Do your worst, I'm already dead." Tanchou reminded her, different form from Tenka's, a bit weaker but it gave him better ability to move. The stoic man's golden hazel eyes changed into ones of neon blue, she pulled some type of trigger in him. Tanchou lunged, sooner than Ilarzia and caught a good hit, slicing her abdomen open. The slower way to death without medical treatment. Ilarzia took the belt she was wearing and released the clasp and wrapped it around her wound, keeping the blood flow from retreating her body. "Going for another round?" Tanchou smirked as if he was ready to kill, in fact that most likely what that was. Tanchou had actually found Tenka's body; he knew how much she hade gone through already and knew exactly what had happened. "I know she has a potion that will replace your existence. I'll make you cease to exist, you don't need to be alive for it to work." He threatened, hollow words though. He had died for a reason, he was too weak. Tanchou dropped the blade and gripped Ilarzia's hair tightly and threw her across the room without a restraint.

"You idiot—" Ilarzia started, but soon a quick kick to her spine shut her up.

"I've seen you in action, I didn't see you kill her, but I saw her corpse. I've seen all your victims." Tanchou pulled on the clasp, tightening and loosening the belt causing pain with every movement and more blood from her body being released. He blood wasn't read though… It was a shimmering golden yellow. "You're the worst. I'm ashamed to even have similar blood to yours." Tanchou stood up and took her final blade.

"What? Going to finish the job?" she smirked, knowing it wouldn't work since that knife was just a mortal knife.

"No…" Tanchou replied, looking away from her, not giving her eye contact. "Like I said, I've seen your victims. Would you like to play a game?" Tanchou had lost all humanity left.

"Wha—?" Ilarzia started, but soon a swift kick to her already wounded side landed on her.

"What hurts more? A," he started and gave another kick harder but farther away from the wound, "Or B?" he picked up a crowbar lying in the corner of the room… And used it on her, "Over hand?" he hit again, "Or Underhand?" Tanchou was actually sickened himself by what he was doing, but he was angry. Ilarzia took the blade he had dropped in a quick flawless movement and stood. Tackling Tanchou down and stabbing his wounded eye.

"I wouldn't know." Ilarzia replied, the pain in her side eventually ceasing but not going away completely. "Which hurts more, your missing eye, or your good eye?" she planned to stab his good eye until it was nothing but mush. He would be blind, the bloody bastard trying to intimidate her so poorly. The knife quickly stopped in its tracks though, leaving the blade just lightly over the good eye then going flying from the woman's hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tenka shouted at Ilarzia… She was healed… But how? Even potions didn't work that quickly. Tanchou's face went blank, not shock, not frozen, entirely stoic once more. He was a soldier, not a warrior.

"Can't believe you're this stupid…" Ilarzia began speaking but then began gagging. That dull red liquid from earlier, it wasn't blood nor some type of water. It was a potion to bring out her insanity, or her inner demon.

"I heard him say every word. But why?" Tenka started to give that small smile that hidden rage and murderous feeling was definitely beneath that smile. "Why'd you kill him in the end?" Tenka added. Ilarzia was now confused; she hadn't killed anyone here, yet.

"I don't know what you're—" Ilarzia started her response but realized exactly what it was, and so did Tenka within that instant. Time. Time was exactly what was ruined here. The portals, however they worked didn't just put them in different places, it would return them in different times. So whenever they met, it was a longer or shorter time for the other person. Tenka has already witnessed someone killed, murdered by Ilarzia before Ilarzia had actually committed the murder.

"I see…" Tenka paused she was debating something in her head, she must've known about the potion too. "I'm giving you ten minutes to run and hide before I go off to avenge him." Tenka added, Ilarzia paid close attention to her words. Tenka was being patient with Ilarzia. She was trying to be fair before she decided to kill Ilarzia herself. Tanchou's eyes widened, he hadn't seen this side of her either yet. Tenka was meant to be the healer, without her everyone would lose their goddamn minds. Had she already lost hers?

"_You should start running."_

Her voice changed, just like earlier when her own had. Ilarzia straightened herself and began limping then running upstairs where she found nothing to help her. There weren't very many rooms. She went into a little girl's room; this must've been Nenriki's room. There weren't any places to hide in here but the cruel whisper of Tenka's voice rang through the empty spaces of the hall.

"_Time's up."_

The slow footsteps made it never-racking for Ilarzia, the footsteps went past the room Ilarzia was in and into another room. Ilarzia fled after twenty seconds, Tenka was looking for her in the other room. Ilarzia ran back downstairs and tried to leave again, Tanchou had sealed the door stronger than before. Ilarzia heard the door open and she ran into a small hallway which only had one door. Ilarzia waited for Tenka to open another door to cover the sound of her own door opening. Tenka seemed to have gone into Nenriki's room. Ilarzia quickly went into the hall but the door from Nenriki's room opened again. The sound of her door closing caught Tenka's attention. "_Shit."_ She muttered to herself. The rushing footsteps began heading downstairs. Ilarzia rushed through the first door she saw, panicked and restless she saw another door next to a ruined painting which looked a lot like someone she had seen before. Soon she was outside but the footsteps that meant her doom was closing in. Ilarzia looked out at the field and saw a small lake in the corner. Ilarzia ran to it and slipped into the trees then slowly getting into the freezing water. Trying to keep as silent as possible, Ilarzia went all the way into her neck. The glaring scarlet eyes were sharply searching the area. Checking behind the well into the bushes and all the trees, deathly close to Ilarzia. Ilarzia quickly caught her breath and went under the water; Tenka saw her figure a light smile drawing across her face. Ilarzia panicked and went to flee the water but instead, now something was dragging her under deeper into the water. Ilarzia was running out of air, she would soon fall unconscious within the few moments and then a few seconds after that she would die. But instead of that she was dragged under so quickly she couldn't see the surface anymore. She was then given air by a man's grasp on her ankle and she was dragged out of the water. The man there was alone.

"What were you doing down there?" the man asked, he had a red uniform on that looked a bit familiar to Gosai's uniform. What was the place called…?

"Red Crossed Roads Private School, right?" Ilarzia asked the man. The man had black hair, messy and un-styled, most likely didn't care for it and fresh forest green irises. He had potions used on himself too. He had a similar aura to the one from earlier.

"Yeah." He helped her up, "You must be the last traveler. I'm Yoru." He said, holding out his hand. There were bite marks all over his hand, the same for his other hand as well. Did he self-harm? Ilarzia took Yoru's hand.

"I'm Ilarzia." She replied, to his kindness, or deceit.

"I guess you're okay now?" Yoru asked again, he seemed a little… off. "Last time I saw you, you kind of threatened to kill me." Yoru added. Ilarzia pondered, did she kill this man?

"I'm sorry. I'm not at that point yet." Ilarzia replied, attempting to catch her breath still.

"I see." Yoru knew as well about the time troubles. "How long?" he asked, "How long have you been within these dimensions?" he had to ask.

"This is my third time return to these dimensions, a little different every time. New appearances, new names, new endings." Ilarzia answered, "I've only been here for a few hours, but it was different, one time it lasted three weeks, another it was just a day." Ilarzia added.

"I see." Yoru sighed. "It turns out I've been here before as well." he replied. "I don't remember it though." Yoru quickly added.

"That's something I actually knew about…" Ilarzia started, taking a quick pause to gather her thoughts, "If you die here you forget, but if you die in a certain dimension you can never return home. Any others it's just a sad case of amnesia." Ilarzia quickly explained. Yoru's expression changed to be one of shock, then a sad smile. It was one of heartbreak.

"So she did die." Yoru mumbled, Ilarzia caught that; Tenka had died before. Was Ilarzia responsible for that?

"She did." Ilarzia agreed, thinking it was her fault. "How would you like to make a deal?" Ilarzia asked.

"What kind of deal?" Ilarzia definitely caught his interest but Yoru had a bit of worry within him.

"If I kill anyone within our four, you get to kill me. I won't resist, I won't remember either. Until then, we protect each other with our lives." Ilarzia started.

"I don't entirely agree." Yoru said. "No body dies and when we return we'll still protect each other, agree?" Yoru asked.

"Yeah." She took his outstretched hand firmly. The deal had been made, a promise that must be kept. "Um, where are we by the way?" she asked nervously.

"I don't recognize it to be honest." Yoru replied, "I can tell you what's going on though…" Yoru started.

"Thanks I'm going to need a rundown of the situation, thanks." Ilarzia replied.

"I've been sitting here for a few minutes, my brother went into this house and a cat told me to sit here and wait for him to come out, there should be someone coming out with him. I heard her name was Kigakiku." Yoru replied, Ilarzia stood up quickly, though she was shivering she couldn't help it. She panicked.

"He needs to get out of there right now." Ilarzia said sharply.

"He can't from what I heard; he's going to be stuck in there until…"

"No. Now. Right now. Right, NOW. NOW! NOW!" Ilarzia was losing it, she ran up to house. She knew how this ended for each of them.

"Wh-What's wrong? What's going on in there?!" Yoru began to panic for his brother's sake. "Who's in there?!"

"There are three people in there that's going to mean the death of him." Ilarzia knew how this ended, possession and death. That's how it always ended. "He thinks he's being a hero but he's working for the enemy." Ilarzia quickly explained, "That… Girl in there, she's not who she says she is."

"He's being deceived?" Yoru got up now too and ran toward the door and pulled the knob harshly, it wouldn't budge. "Shit!" he kicked the door as hard as he could. Ilarzia began sweating, if this is how it ended for him then this would be her beginning, she didn't want that. She can still feel the pain from it. Ilarzia held her throat. This was so long ago, what happened then? Where had she hid? Where was that father of hers?

"I'll be right back I have to go find him." Ilarzia ran as fast as she could, that man would be here anyway if he found out before he was given false information then it might change things, but where was he? She came to a sudden stop, that was right… Those thorns that would wither nor be cut for anything, "F**k!" she ran back, she would see them soon enough. "We're too late…" Ilarzia ran back to Yoru and snatched his wrist away from the door and hid around the corner of the wall just in time when the door opened. Gosai had exited the building with this girl, Kigakiku. Yoru opened his mouth but Ilarzia slapped her hand over the man's mouth, they needed to be quiet.

"That was close…" Kigakiku panted as she shut the door tightly. This girl was maybe 13 years old, and she had blonde hair tied into two braids and beautiful green eyes. She was quite beautiful for a girl her age. She had an apron which was a little bloodied over a light blue dress. Ilarzia growled at the sight of her.

"I agree." Gosai tried to catch his breath, "If I remember correctly, he's supposed to be waiting right by this stump but…" Gosai looked at the empty stump where his brother had been waiting moments ago. Yoru tried to escape from her grasp to say something, he should've known by now that this wasn't a safe situation.

"Just assume he left for the next place." Kigakiku replied, "We need to get away from this house." Kigakiku added before moving on to grab the letter and read the rest of it, she had two pieces of the same letter. Ilarzia knew what it read, so did Kigakiku, so did Ayame. The image a little girl with purple hair and yellow eyes entered her mind, the girl with no legs, the empty eye sockets drenched with blood continuously bleeding after hours and hours, the red dress soaked with her red liquid, the fire in her throat. She had to save that little girl, her life depended on it. Kigakiku had a potion in her hand that would get rid of those thorns if she remembered correctly.

"Something seems off though, I sense two auras…" Gosai replied. Knowing that Yoru wasn't alone anymore. "Oh well, let's go find them." The two moved on rather quickly and went to get rid of those thorns. Ilarzia didn't allow Yoru to speak until she was sure they were out of earshot.

"What was that about?" Yoru shouted in a quiet tone to show his anger but not alarm anyone else.

"Give it a minute. Why would he forget about you just like that?" Ilarzia explained to him.

"Because we hate each other, I thought you already knew this." Yoru replied, "I'm not telling you again."

"Okay, well. That man isn't your brother anymore." Ilarzia explained quickly then gripped Yoru's wrist as tight as she could and followed the two from earlier, making sure her footsteps were light and quiet.

"What do you mean?" Yoru asked, Ilarzia shushed him and then moved behind the trees to see the two looking back. Not finding Yoru and Ilarzia, but Ayame. The little girl crawling with her two hands, gripping the grass that was soaked with the now raining atmosphere.

"Stay quiet, say nothing. You are not here. If you don't listen then this is all for not, for your brother." Ilarzia explained as she removed her hand from her lips. Yoru stayed quiet for the moment.

"Oh you again." Kigakiku said, flaunting the knife in her hand. Gosai said nothing as Kigakiku stepped closer to Ayame then stabbed Ayame. Ayame gave out a forced scream, it seemed like the scream hurt her more than the knife, the expression she had made it look like she wanted to cry but she had no eyes to cry with. "How come you keep trying? Just lie down and die already."

"You're just making it harder on yourself." Gosai said as he kneeled by the mangled body of the little girl. "Just relax and wait." Ayame was in too much pain, she clawed at Gosai with the little strength she had. Ilarzia hated this part. Gosai kicked her as hard as he could; "Now that was rude." Ayame was silent; she couldn't scream anymore, her throat was too hoarse. Ilarzia looked at Yoru's expression. Shock, pure shock. He couldn't believe what his brother was doing to this little girl. Yoru was half way to tears, he couldn't watch.

"Please… Do something…" Yoru mumbled quietly, he looked away from the scene.

"Still worried about your father are you?" Kigakiku turned her back on the mangled Ayame, "A hunter, isn't he? And he even sent you that letter. What a good father. So then, I suppose you're worried about what'll happen when you're gone? It'll be just fine." she said, "I'll give him Kigakiku's share of love. And I'll take her share of love too. So…" she was interrupted by another man's voice.

"Kiku?" the voice was from another angle, a man with a shotgun down the path.

"Stay back!" Gosai said as he pulled Kigakiku away from Ayame. Ilarzia pulled a knife and ran up to Gosai and Kigakiku.

"You stay back you monster! Look what you've done!" Ilarzia cried, with fresh fury. She knew what was going, she knew what would happen, she had to play each move correctly.

"Brother…?" Yoru walked out of their hiding place as well. He was unarmed, he walked on the path, he wanted to end his brother's replacement. "What happened?"

"That's not your brother, I told you that!" Ilarzia shouted at him, "And the bitch in front of us isn't Kigakiku either." Ilarzia remarked. Ilarzia kept her eyes focused on "Kigakiku".

"Wh-What are you talking about? F-Father, help me!" the imposter screamed, the father armed his shotgun at the two strangers. Ilarzia growled, the confused "Ayame" was completely still.

"Stay back Kigakiku!" she made a gesture with her hand that told the damaged girl behind them to stay still and not to get anywhere close. "Yoru, that Gosai is possessed by the black cat, trying to prevent any change from what happens an alternate reality. And that 'Kigakiku' that's trying to get the real one killed is the monster behind is. The monster was a human being." Ilarzia pointed her knife at the false "Kigakiku", "She did that to her!"

"Father… Are you going to believe her? Please help me!" she shouted, the father stood there confused.

"Your daughter is the witch now! They swapped bodies, you know that!" Ilarzia shouted still. Gosai was sweating; this wasn't how it was going to end. Gosai pulled a knife of his own and ran up to Ilarzia. He wasn't going to let this change any further.

"Yoru, run!" Gosai shouted to his brother, this liar was trying to win the father over to kill the two purplettes. Yoru stood still, he couldn't kill his brother. Ilarzia blocked "Gosai's" knife with her own, she used one hand to hold him back and the other to throw a potion to Yoru. The potion was neon blue and was full up to the brim.

"Give that to her! She'll be healed!" Ilarzia instructed, "Be careful, Ayame has a knife!" she wasn't calling the girl behind her Ayame; the girl in front of her was Ayame. Yoru took the potion carefully and removed the cap and turned to the dying girl.

"Drink it carefully…" Yoru instructed, he had seen this potion before. The neon blue light made everyone go blind. Shinri, Kigakiku's father, took aim and shot, he missed. When the light faded away back to the gray sky the mangled body that was Ayame's body was healed. Ilarzia kicked down Buwi, the demon that resided within the black cat who had stolen Gosai's body, and pinned him with her foot. The body was horribly damaged, he had her eyes back but they were blinded eyes, the legs were slowly reforming into new weak ones that were just skin and bone. She was pale, extremely pale, her voice tried to speak.

"Fh…fha…aa…th… …dh…dha…" she groaned in pain, " Fa- Fath… Faath... Father… Father!" she shouted with all her might, she was so weak but with her voice she could have some advantage. Shinri, wasn't sure about this, he had his gun fixated on her. But his hands were shaking. He was being slowly persuaded, but no…

"Father, it's just a dirty trick, please!" Ayame screamed at her, slowly pulling the knife. "Don't make me do this!" she said, she was trying to make her prove her innocence by threatening to become a murderer when she didn't want to be.

"Don't lie! You had already stabbed her!" Yoru shouted at the imposter. He picked up the weak little girl. The wound on her back where she had been stabbed was scarred, it had healed but the damage was done and that was evident. "Please take your daughter." Yoru asked as the blood soaked outfit dripped away with the rain. Shinri still had the gun fixated on her. Yoru took the end of the gun and pointed it at his forehead. "Shoot if you must, but shoot the right one." Yoru was calling his bluff, but Ayame wouldn't have it. She stabbed Yoru in the leg, making him kneel. He cringed painfully as he fell to one knee but got up quickly, but painfully. He wasn't going to let this witch ruin this family of two. Ilarzia knocked out "Gosai", the black cat then began striding up to his body. That was the real Gosai.

"Take your daughter, he's begging you." Ilarzia quickly restrained Ayame as Shinri took his daughter.

"Father… Please don't." she muttered quietly. Her throat was still burning.

"I can vouch for her, and so can that black cat. And especially that man who just put his life on the line for your daughter. Please do the right thing." Ilarzia added. Yoru's eyes widened, he'd figured it out but he said nothing. Ilarzia needed to add something, what was it? "This girl, is your daughter's best friend too, right? So she had a good choice of judgment, what do you think she would've done when her friend got sick? Take care of her right? She did, Kigakiku gave up her body for a day to take care of Ayame so she could enjoy herself but then Ayame tortured her! This is your daughter! Please listen to me!" she began crying, Ilarzia couldn't help it.

"It's alright." Yoru coaxed her softly, he definitely knew now. How selfish she was, she really was saving her own skin.

"Please take her!" Ilarzia begged.

"Father! Father please!" Ayame was still trying to act innocent though she had already lost. Kigakiku slowly opened her eyes, the golden color turned to an orange one. Ayame's skin turned red and her hair black, she was getting pissed her freed herself of Ilarzia's grasp. "You little brat! I should've just killed you!"

"I should've just killed you too." Ilarzia's eyes glared back at her, the two prepared their knives. This eternal hell, but now she would finally get vengeance. "So many goddamn times." She gripped the blade tightly, "I've seen myself die!" she smacked Ayame's knife away from her and threw her knife onto the ground and picked up the girl who tried to snatch the woman's short hair, but it was to short for her to reach, and her arms were too long for her claw at her eyes. Ilarzia threw Ayame into a tree, "Do you know what it's like to go through that?!" she pinned Ayame, "Over a dozen times?" Ilarzia growled slightly.

"Killing you would just be too easy."

Ilarzia wasn't insane, she was just angry. Yoru wasn't sure what to do at that moment, she was going to kill Ayame but, should he let her? Ilarzia had her hands around Ayame's throat.

"I've been around so long; I mastered that witchcraft you burdened me with. Do you know how easy it would be to overpower you with that? Should I do that or just choke you until you can no longer breathe? So many ways to die, I might as well let you pick." Ilarzia was losing it now; she only talked like that under the influence of that potion. She tried to shake it off, she loosened her grip to where she wasn't choking or dying, but she was still pinned.

"Ilarzia, stop you're better than this!" Yoru shouted at her.

"That isn't my name…" she replied, "Go ahead, say it." There was a pause, "Say it!" she repeated a bit more hostile this time.

"Ilarzia…" Yoru muttered.

"THAT ISN'T MY NAME." she stated firmly.

"Kigakiku!" he shouted back harshly. "Calm yourself!" That weak little girl, and the one who was about to kill the witch was the same person. Alternate timelines. In one she needed to live. Ilarzia looked at her old body struggling.

"You should all look away." Ilarzia moved her hand back and stole the shotgun from Shinri and put it to Ayame's head…

Then fired.

The spray of blood went every where, it drenched her face and hit everyone around, Gosai, the cat, Shinri, Kigakiku, Yoru and herself the most. The thing that used to be a face lay in front of her. The blackened hair that was once blonde was soaked with blood. Her eyes didn't even have sockets, her nose had caved in and the rest of her head was just a mass of cartilage, bone and muscle. There wasn't even any facial detail to recognize the corpse. Ilarzia stared at the body with a strange look in her eye. This used to be her body, and she just destroyed it. She could've removed Ayame from her body, but it didn't matter anymore. She let her anger get the best of her and now she had nothing to go back to. At least she saved her self, but now she was stuck in this eternal body that would never let her die. She had doomed herself, by her own hand. Shinri held his daughter in his arms, her eyes were still damaged but now she could actually see, and her legs would work but it would be like a child learning to crawl, then stand, then walk, then run… She remembered that much. She also remembered what had happened to her father… Eternal life was not a blessing, it was heavy burden.

"_You think I like being the old woman in these stories? The men heroes, the ladies are whores, and the old hags like me get to watch everyone they love die."_

Every time, she got to see her loved ones die just because she got to slowly age. And the same would happen to the three around them. Gosai would eventually die within a few years since he's already an old cat, Yoru would most likely be too blind to see what he needed and Tenka would've died from that stab wound. And Ilarzia would lose her mind.

"Ha ha ha…" she laughed quietly to herself and hid her face with her hands and clawed at her eyes, "This bloody form. I'm cursed with. It never belonged to me until now…" she looked at her hands soaked in blood and realized that her face had blood on it too if her hands had left the blood on her face. A hunk of meat from her old face was on her thigh, she flicked it off of her. Ilarzia didn't remember this, how did she get so far off track? It must've been that potion. It had to of been… She kept her cool all times before, why now? Ilarzia clawed at her hands as Shinri held his daughter close, what could he do to prevent this? That's what he was thinking… He didn't want his daughter to become that, it was a horrible disgrace of his daughter. That's not what he was thinking, but it's what she interpreted.

"Kiku?" he said as he looked over at the older version of his daughter, still holding his present daughter in his arms, this Kigakiku was terrified, she had just gone through a horrible torture then mutation to get healthy and then she saw herself go insane. How horrified she must be… Ilarzia pulled at her hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried and hid her face in her hands again. She hated herself, what could she do to prevent this? Was there anything she could do? Ilarzia grabbed the blade, yes, she knew. If she killed Shinri then this version of her would do anything prevent that from happening.

"Stop right there." Yoru was now behind Ilarzia and had her wrist pinned, he would have no one else die. She could sense it.

"Yoru, get out of my way." Ilarzia muttered.

"SHUT UP." He replied firmly and removed the blade from her hand. "Just shut up, you think too much." He pulled her into his arms and embraced her as tightly as he could. Crap, not him too… He pitied her.

"Get off! You pity me too now, don't you?" she said, tried to push him off but he wouldn't let go.

"I told you to shut up and stop thinking." Yoru repeated himself and held her tighter, she had gone too far into the abyss, he was trying to pull her out. And for that moment, she changed into what she used to be. Ilarzia sniffed as she began crying, giving out soft whimpers quietly. Her eyes burning as tears poured out, she may have been hundreds of years old but she never really matured, she was still scarred, she was still scared.

"She was so scary…" she muttered, not horrifying, not terrifying, not cruel, she was scary. He was still a child even now. Shinri gently set down the young Kigakiku down next to Ilarzia and both the young version of herself and Shinri embraced Ilarzia as she cried, she had to get it out now. Her eyes turned back to the golden that they were when she was young and then back to their forest green she had in her old body. She didn't lose it, but she had finally come to her truth. She was still a child even now, and she was never really alone. And within those moments that she was crying, she was actually at peace. But that peace would have to end, the imposter that was in Gosai's body arose and took hold of his knife and was going to kill everyone there, starting with Ilarzia and Yoru.

"You stay away from them!" the cat threatened as Gosai got up. The black cat scratched up his legs and climbed up to his eyes and scratched those up too then ran back to those others, he was going to protect them as a cat. An old, dying cat but he was going to.

"Back off!" Buwi threatened and actually changed his target to the cat that was Gosai. Yoru picked up the shotgun and aimed it at his brother.

"I got one shot left, and I will use it." Yoru bluffed, he was willing to sacrifice himself but he wasn't a murderer.

"Bullsh*t." Buwi called his bluff instantly, he could tell when people were lying, and how they were feeling. Buwi took the blade and was ready to stab Yoru. Yoru waited and as Buwi ran up to him, Yoru turned the gun and used the back of it to slam it into Buwi's face.

"Give my brother back his body." Yoru said as Buwi fell to the ground with a bloody nose.

"Make me." Buwi replied.

"I will." Ilarzia said, she was a witch and she knew exactly what she could do and she could swap bodies if they were willing, but demons, demons could exorcised. Within a moments time she had herself prepared to do the swap. "And I'll make sure you never get anyone else again." She added and began the incantation. Yoru held down Buwi and the cat Gosai sat on top of him. As the faint glow of the magic began to wrap around them Yoru slowly moved back to not interrupt the process, a faint smirk was on Gosai's body during the process and at the end when the blinding magic faded away into the fog and the body of a cat laid stiff. It was dead… The body of Gosai seemed intact but, but he was passed out cold. Shinri looked at his "new" daughter in awe, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to raise a witch. The weak legs she had tried to stand up on her own but she fell. Her knees bruised just from falling on them, she couldn't even support her own weight. Shinri quickly helped his daughter up and carried her in his arms, putting his forehead against hers and a weak smile spread across his face. Ilarzia remembered that smile, it was of acceptance. He still loved his daughter, even if she had a new face. Yoru looked down at the dead cat's body, it looked surprisingly peaceful even though it knew that it was dying. Yoru began to wonder of the incantation even worked. He wondered if that body lying on the ground was his brother's body. Ilarzia felt extremely happy, though her happiest memory was one of the most painful, she got to relive it one last time. Yoru picked up the dead cat's body and placed it next to Ilarzia's old body. The two died together. Ilarzia walked up to Shinri and the young Kigakiku and stroked her father's hair and then the younger version of herself.

"You should go home now." Ilarzia suggested, Shinri nodded and held out his hand weakly. He was trying to shake her hand that was under his daughter's leg.

"Thank you." He replied, he was glad to have his daughter back. Ilarzia knew Kigakiku wouldn't remember this. Because she didn't. Yoru got up from the two corpses and stood behind Ilarzia, he had a strange expression. It looked very similar to the one she had on earlier. Confliction. "I can't wait to see you grow up." Shinri added and then turned and ran home with his daughter. Ilarzia was practically stabbed in the heart. She remembered what happened, she never got to grow up. Every twenty-five years she aged on year. Shinri died seeing his daughter at only the age of ten. How young she was, how sad was the look on his face then but then the memory soon changed, the expression on his face. He did see her grow up a little. How she lived, how she had chosen to live. The little memories that meant nothing hours ago now meant everything to her. Yoru lightly slipped his hand into hers as a sense of comfort, then squeezed lightly.

"You're crying." Yoru stated simply, Ilarzia lifted up her free hand and wiped away the tears. Why was she crying? Was she sad? Was she happy? The feeling her chest had both feelings so she couldn't tell the difference anymore. There was one last thing to do though, and that was wait until Gosai woke up, to find out if it were Gosai or Buwi.

"I am." Ilarzia stated simply as she looked back at Buwi once the running father vanished out of sight. "Tell me, how would you feel if you thought you'd failed as a person but have those few memories you have to keep because of it?"

"Some memories are the most painful, but also the most painful." Yoru replied, "Someone once told me that." He added on quickly, he looked back to the two corpses and then his brother's body, then back to Ilarzia.

"Really, who was that?" Ilarzia asked, she couldn't help but be curious. He gave a light chuckle at her reply.

"She was a good friend." Yoru answered that out of habit, he didn't like giving his sources away or anything like that, he liked to keep people guessing.

"She sounds like she would've nice." Ilarzia replied.

"Yeah… She was." Yoru replied, forcing a smile on his face. Seemed like he had memories like that too. "You should've seen her, she was so kind and brave, but she lost herself somewhere along the way." Yoru added quickly. Silence, complete silence. Not even the sound of breathing, as if everyone was holding their breath.

"Well, don't worry about it. We should get a move on, I think we're done here." Ilarzia replied, with a small smile she had something to look forward to now. She had something to look forward to, and that's all she needed. Home, she had a home now. Not a house, a _home_. Yoru and Ilarzia went off to try and find their way back to another dimension.

"You know we'll probably get separated by time or the places, right?" Yoru reminded her.

"Probably, but we'll still see each other again." Ilarzia replied, as she looked back once more, then began walking away from Yoru and his brother, Gosai.

"I'll see you around." Yoru smiled and waved his hand at her, "Good luck."

"Good luck to you too, see ya." Ilarzia replied, walking back to the house she knew that haunted her, she'd never have to think about it again, she was finally at peace.


End file.
